Devanagari
तस्मादिदं दैवतन्त्रं व्यवस्य भरतर्षभ ।
तस्यानुविहितोऽनाथा नाथ पाहि प्रजा: प्रभो ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
tasmād idaṁ daiva-tantraṁ
vyavasya bharatarṣabha
tasyānuvihito ’nāthā
nātha pāhi prajāḥ prabho
Synonyms
tasmāt
—
therefore
;
idam
—
this
;
daiva
—
tantram — enchantment of providence only
;
vyavasya
—
ascertaining
;
bharata
—
ṛṣabha — O best among the descendants of Bharata
;
tasya
—
by Him
;
anuvihitaḥ
—
as desired
;
anāthāḥ
—
helpless
;
nātha
—
O master
;
pāhi
—
just take care of
;
prajāḥ
—
of the subjects
;
prabho
—
O Lord .
Translation
O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhiṣṭhira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O master! O controller! Of best of the Bharata lineage! Therefore, discerning that the suffering and happiness is dependent only on Kṛṣṇa, follow him and protect the helpless citizens.
Purport
The popular saying is that a housewife teaches the daughter-in-law by teaching the daughter. Similarly, the Lord teaches the world by teaching the devotee. The devotee does not have to learn anything new from the Lord because the Lord teaches the sincere devotee always from within. Whenever, therefore, a show is made to teach the devotee, as in the case of the teachings of
Bhagavad-gītā,
it is for teaching the less intelligent men. A devotee’s duty, therefore, is to ungrudgingly accept tribulations from the Lord as a benediction. The Pāṇḍavas were advised by Bhīṣmadeva to accept the responsibility of administration without hesitation. The poor subjects were without protection due to the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and they were awaiting the assumption of power by Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. A pure devotee of the Lord accepts tribulations as favors from the Lord. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no mundane difference between the two.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Discern (vyavasya) that this happiness and suffering (idam) is dependent on the lord (daiva-tantram), but understand that the purpose of giving happiness and distress to his devotee is not easily understood, since it has already been said that his plan is hard to comprehend. Having discerned this, follow Kṛṣṇa (tasya anuvihitaḥ) and protect the citizens who are without a guide (anāthāḥ) to lead them to Kṛṣṇa.